Mandarin question

[buttered loins]

Hi

Just wondering do mandarins eat at night or day or both. because the LFS showed me one and said he eats at night because he wasn't eating during the day i don't think. and can you see mandarins eating because i saw this one bite at the sand then spit it out then repeated this?

thanks

 

[SubRosa]

They eat one meal a day. It starts when they wake up and it ends when they go to sleep.

 

[SubRosa]

They generally eat living benthic microfauna, aka pods. How readily they take frozen is generally dependent upon exactly which species of Mandarin it is. Synchiropus splendidus, the Blue or Green or Psychedelic Mandarin can be difficult to get to take frozen. S, picturatus, the Spotted Mandarin are usually pretty easy to get on frozen.

 

[OldManOfTheSea]

I great number of marine fish often do take sand in and then spit it out for in the oceans, sand often has food most anywhere in the sand. For as well, much of what the Mandarin feeds on is in your LR, so its best that one has as large a tank with as much LR they can manage due too their fish bio load. The Mandarin is one fish that im planning on for my 240 gal SPS reef tank, but only after the tank is well aged.

Buddy

 

[buttered loins]

i also planning on getting one and going to step up a pod pile to produce heaps of codepods. i also noticed that they are very shy, as you go towards the glass they head to the back. is this a phase and they get use to you or are they always like that?

 

[jayghmi]

They eat one meal a day. It starts when they wake up and it ends when they go to sleep.

That is funny and so true. Mine starved to death and I could not get it out because of all my rock before it happened. My 46 gallon tank was over a year and 1/2 old and polluted with pods. I mean they were everywhere and he cleaned out my tank in 4 months and died. Yes I supplemented with tiger pods and still could not keep him/her fed.

The LFS is dead wrong! They never ever stop eating while awake.